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Stones Legend Bashes Guitar Hero

Real instruments gathering moss, Wyman complains

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 9, 2009 4:54 AM CDT

(Newser) – The growth of video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band means fewer real guitar heros in the future, complains former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. Playing the games "encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument," he tells the Guardian. "I think it's a pity."

The Stone's gripes were echoed by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. "It irritates me having watched my kids do it," he said of the game. "If they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons, they'd be damn good by now." The rockers were speaking ahead of the launch of The Beatles: Rock Band game, which lets players play along to the Fab Four's career.

Bill Wyman plays guitar  at the Cafe de Paris, London, in 2002. He played bass for the Rolling Stones until 1992.
Bill Wyman plays guitar at the Cafe de Paris, London, in 2002. He played bass for the Rolling Stones until 1992.   (Getty Images)
Guitar Hero is causing fewer young people to pick up real instruments, Wyman says.
Guitar Hero is causing fewer young people to pick up real instruments, Wyman says.   (AP Photo/Activision)
Pink Floyd members Roger Waters, left, Nick Mason, Syd Barrett, and Richard Wright leap from the steps of EMI House in London in this 1967 photo.
Pink Floyd members Roger Waters, left, Nick Mason, Syd Barrett, and Richard Wright leap from the steps of EMI House in London in this 1967 photo.   (AP Photo, File)
Jean-Luc Godard directs Bill Wyman and Mick Jagger during the shooting of the Rolling Stones documentary 'Sympathy For the Devil' in 1968.
Jean-Luc Godard directs Bill Wyman and Mick Jagger during the shooting of the Rolling Stones documentary 'Sympathy For the Devil' in 1968.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 21 comments
drlarrymitchell
Sep 10, 2009 5:32 AM CDT
Twisting and shouting.
hans57sauc
Sep 10, 2009 3:35 AM CDT
on the flipside, it may also allow some people the opportunity to gain an interest in music when they may have otherwise never had the opportunity
WharfRat
Sep 10, 2009 2:14 AM CDT
i think its true. instead of hours playing video games, practice.

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